Last weekend, my brother and his family, and Sugar Bear and I went to our family's Century Farm. Since 1981, my immediate family has lived there. My dad purchased some of the property from my Grandfather. Since my grandfather's passing, and my grandmother's moving to a retirement facility, my parents have been the caretakers of the entire farm. Both my brother and I have so many fond memories of growing up on a farm. It truly is a blessing to experience the Great Outdoors as a child. We are both quick to give our children every opportunity to relish in the farmy lifestyle as well.
This particular weekend, our intention was to take the girls to the mouth of the creek named after our family. It is a lovely swimming spot, as the cool water from the creek meets the warmer water of the river. There is an ever changing sandy beach to set our stuff on, and a rare spot to enter the water with out slippery rocks making it difficult. I personally, wanted to share this spot with my daughter, as I have so many great memories of being there as a child. I was, however, nearly in double digits when I first started swimming in that particular spot, but never the less, I wanted my girl to play there with me.
It was an overcast day, but muggy and warm. The trail leading down the river is steep and a tad perilous, but we made it fine. We proceeded to wade, swim, sit in the sand, get sand in places it isn't comfortable, and eat lunch, while my brother did a little fishing. Being the tender hearted freak that I am....I have developed an issue with any sort of harming of animals, so fishing has long lost it's luster for me. I realized this about 5 years ago when I kept getting teary eyed every time my husband or brother caught a fish. I just can't stand the thought of those poor innocent fish swimming along, having a lovely day, then BAM....a sharp barb is lodged into their lip and some brut is ranking it out, man handling it...and who knows what else before either killing it or setting it free. YUCK!!!! so not for me. You can laugh if you want to...I understand my degree of freakishness, and I am not afraid to share it.
Anyhow...at some point I needed to go back up the treacherous trail to the vehicle to fetch something we hadn't had enough hands for the first trip down. Being the ever cautious mother that I am, I led my daughter over to her uncle and asked him to keep an eye on her as I will only be gone a few minutes. As I left, I heard him ask her if she wanted to hold the fishing pole. Just as I was starting back down the trail to return, I heard much whooping and hollering for Sugar Bear as it appeared that she had snagged a fish. Being the ever obsessive photo taking mother that I am, I nearly killed myself trying to get down the trail to capture this moment for her. Luckily....that one got away! Whew...okay, so I am a bad mom, but I was thrilled I hadn't missed the big moment. Patiently she fished some more, and soon there was another bite. This time I was ready with camera in hand. As my girl caught and reeled in her first fish, I caught some great snaps of the experience. She was pretty excited to see it come out of the water, and to touch it. However, she must have been a tad unsure of it all, as in the pictures I notice her hand coming up to her cheek/mouth in a self-soothing behavior.
The amazing thing in this whole moment was that I didn't shed a tear. In fact, for the first time in years, I didn't even feel one darn thing for that silly little fish. I was simply overwhelmed with joy for my daughter's pride in her catch. What happened to my tender hearted feelings about fish? What does that say about me? I am not entirely sure. I just hope it doesn't mean that I am as wishy washy about other things just because Sugar Bear likes them. Can't you see it now? "oh honey...usually I think that whacking other children when they steal your toy is a bad thing, but since you are so proud of yourself for getting the toy back, I am thrilled!" tee hee....I guess time will tell, and you can be sure I'll share it with you when I find out. In the mean time, enjoy the pictures.
Catching fish number one:
Going after fish number two:
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Gone Fishin
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9 Live It or Love It:
Her Daddy must be so proud!
Oh Corey! What a wonderful post! And she does look so proud. :)
Those shots are perfect! What did Daddy think?
And yeah - I have noticed some changes to my perspective on wildlife since becoming a mama. I never killed bugs before - I would carefully wrap them in tissue (spiders, crickets, all manner of creepy crawlies) and release them back into the wild outside our front door. Since D was born, the moment one of them shows himself in daylight, I say, "You picked the wrong house and the wrong mama, buddy!" and off he goes, to insect heaven. ;D
Oh, my dear Corey! Those pictures made ME all teary and I'm not even her mama! She is a precious child - what a blessing to you!
Remember that you are who you are and in all your beauty you are becoming. Enjoy the journey push that old self doubt away.
Great shots of life and lessons.
The pictures are just adorable! What a proud mama!
Love the photos!
Corey, I love this post! First of all, because it's so true that our attitudes and priorities about certain things change so suddenly and unexpectedly when we become Mamas. I've found that things that I wasn't ever all that interested in are now elevated to a very high level of importance in my life, just because Maya enjoys them so much.
Secondly, could those pictures be any more adorable?!? Oh my goodness, an adorable girl catching her first fish...just pure preciousness!
I already told you I loved the pics. But the story.. really got me teary eyed. I'm sure it was a great moment for Kenna and for you. But I also think it's a great moment for your brother too, judging by the smile on his face. :)
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